Advertisement

Widow fights destruction of her late husband's sperm

A widow who is trying to stop her late husband's sperm being destroyed is taking her case to the High Court today. Legal representatives of Beth Warren, 26, will ask a judge to rule on her challenge to a time limit imposed by the fertility regulator.

Widow fights destruction of her late husband's sperm

A widow who is trying to stop her late husband's sperm being destroyed is taking her case to the High Court today. Legal representatives of Beth Warren, 26, will ask a judge to rule on her challenge to a time limit imposed by the UK fertility regulator.

Beth Warren at her home in Birmingham Credit: Joe Giddens/PA Wire/Press Association Images

It means she has until April 2015 to conceive using the sample her husband placed in storage before dying. Warren Brewer, a ski instructor, was 32 when he lost a long battle with cancer in February 2012.

In a double tragedy, his death from a brain tumour happened just weeks after Ms Warren's brother died in a car crash.

Mr Brewer had signed consent forms allowing the storage of his sperm so Ms Warren could conceive after his death, known as post-mortem conception, but on a time-limited basis after which the samples are set to be destroyed.